Gajapati Maharaja Dibyasingha Deb, the hereditary head and ceremonial servitor of Hindu deity Jagannath in Odisha’s Puri, issued a formally worded letter expressing deep concern to ISKCON’s global leadership on June 15.

The message was unequivocal: temples affiliated with the organisation are increasingly conducting Snana-yatra and Ratha-yatra festivals of Jagannath on dates directly contravening those laid down in sacred scripture, and have been traditionally honoured in Puri for centuries.

This was not a minor calendrical disagreement, but a misappropriation and breach of the cultural and heritage integrity of Jagannath. The closest analogy of this would be that a Chinese company tomorrow decides to celebrate Christmas in summer because it is convenient.

This cultural and religious misappropriation will continue if we don’t grant protection — the legal kind — to assets such as Jagannath yatra. This requires a policy shift to recognise it and give it GI (geographical identification) protection as a cultural asset.

The letter may appear to be an internal dispute between two branches of Vaishnavism. But read more closely, it reveals a deeper anxiety – one that touches the heart of India’s spiritual and cultural sovereignty. At stake is not simply the question of which date a ritual is performed, but who gets to define and control the cultural and liturgical grammar of one of India’s oldest living traditions.

When a global institution like ISKCON, with temples in over 150 countries, celebrates these key festivals independently of the Puri calendar – sometimes weeks earlier or in different months – it doesn’t just introduce confusion. It subtly creates a parallel universe of legitimacy that dilutes the sanctity and singularity of the original tradition rooted in........

© News18